For goodness' sake AE! You gave me the shock of my life!
For all who are interested, from the Roman Catholic Encyclopedia, a short extract:-
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10735a.htm
Necromancy
(
nekros, "dead", and
manteia, "divination")
Necromancy is a special mode of
divination by the evocation of the dead. Understood as nigromancy (
niger, black), which is the Italian, Spanish and old French form, the term suggests "black" magic or "black" art, in which marvellous results are due to the agency of
evil spirits, while in "white" magic they are due to human dexterity and trickery. The practice of necromancy supposes belief in the survival of the soul after death, the possession of a superior knowledge by the disembodied spirit, and the possibility of communication between the living and the dead. The circumstances and conditions of this communication such as time, place, and rites to be followed depend on the various conceptions which were entertained concerning the nature of the departed soul, its abode, its relations with the earth and with the body in which it previously resided. As divinities frequently were but human heroes raised to the rank of gods, necromancy, mythology, and demonology are in close relation, and the oracles of the dead are not always easily distinguished from the oracles of the gods.
I. NECROMANCY IN PAGAN COUNTRIES
Along with other forms of
divination and magic, necromancy is found in every nation of antiquity, and is a practice common to paganism at all times and in all countries, but nothing certain can be said as to the place of its origin. Strabo (Geogr., XVI, ii, 39) says that it was the characteristic form of
divination among the Persians. It was also found in Chaldea, Babylonia and Etruria (Clemens Alex., "Protrepticum", II, in Migne, P. G., VIII, 69; Theodoret, "Græcarum affectionum curatlo", X, in P. G., LXXXIII, 1076). Isaias (xix, 3) refers to its practice in Egypt, and Moses (
Deuteronomy 18:9-12) warns the
Israelites against imitating the Chanaanite abominations, among which seeking the truth from the dead is mentioned. In Greece and Rome the evocation of the dead took place especially in caverns, or in volcanic regions, or near rivers and lakes, where the communication with the abodes of the dead was thought to be easier. Among these,
nekromanteia, psychomanteia, or
psychopompeia, the most celebrated were the oracle in Thesprotia near the River Acheron, which was supposed to be one of the rivers of
hell, another in Laconia near the promontory of Tænarus, in a large and deep cavern from which a black and unwholesome vapour issued, and which was considered as one of the entrances of
hell, others at Aornos in Epirus and Heraclea on the Propontis. In Italy the oracle of Cumæ, in a cavern near Lake Avernus in Campania, was one of the most famous. The oldest mention of necromancy is the narrative of Ulysses' voyage to Hades (Odyssey, XI) and of his evocation of souls by means of the various rites indicated by Circe. It is noteworthy that, in this instance, although Ulysses' purpose was to consult the shade of Tiresias, he seems unable to evoke it alone; a number of others also appear, together or successively. As parallel to this passage of Homer may be mentioned the sixth book of Virgil's Æneid, which relates the descent of Æneas into the infernal regions. But here there is no true evocation, and the hero himself goes through the abodes of the souls. Besides these poetical and mythological narratives, several instances of necromantic practices are recorded by historians. At Cape Tænarus Callondas evoked the soul of Archilochus, whom he had killed (Plutarch, "De sera numinis vindicta", xvii). Periander tyrant of Corinth, and one of the seven wise men of Greece, sent messengers to the oracle on the River Acheron to ask his dead wife, Melissa, in what place she had laid a stranger's deposit. Her phantom appeared twice and, at the second appearance, gave the required information (Herodotus, V, xcii). Pausanias, King of Sparta, had killed Cleonice, whom he had mistaken for an enemy during the night, and in consequence he could find neither rest nor peace, but his mind was filled with strange fears. After trying many purifications and expiations, he went to the
psychopompeion of Phigalia, or Heraclea, evoked her soul, and received the assurance that his dreams and fears would cease as soon as he should have returned to Sparta. Upon his arrival there he died (Pausanias III, xvii, 8, 9; Plutarch, "De sera num. vind.", x; "Vita Cimonis", vi). After his death, the Spartans sent to Italy for psychagogues to evoke and appease his manes (Plutarch, "Desera num. vind.", xvii). Necromancy is mixed with oneiromancy in the case of Elysius of Terina in Italy, who desired to know if his son's sudden death was due to poisoning. He went to the oracle of the dead and, while sleeping in the temple, had a vision of both his father and his son who gave him the desired information (Plutarch, "Consolatio ad Apollonium", xiv).
